A start-up rail equipment manufacturer and railcar repair company plans to reopen the closed Kanza Rail Shops in Parsons and create 75 jobs in the southeast Kansas city in the next five years.

According to a news release Wednesday from the Kansas Department of Commerce, TM Track Machines purchased the repair facility at 901 North 25th that was closed last year. Fifty jobs were lost with the closing of that facility, the release said.

Co-owner Terry Peterson said in the release that company officials will use their experience and expertise in the rail industry to become “a significant player in the railroad tamper industry nationally, and the strategic location of Parsons on the Union Pacific Railroad system will serve as a catalyst for the expansion and growth of our company in the years ahead.“

A tamper is a piece of equipment used to pack down the ballast underneath railroad tracks.